Central Java provincial government applies PBL method to tackle poverty

The Central Java Provincial Government has designated Kepyar Village, Wonogiri Regency, as a pilot project for Project Based Learning (PBL) in poverty alleviation.

Central Java Governor Ahmad Luthfi in Semarang on Thursday said the programme involves the government, universities, regional-owned enterprises (BUMD), regional agencies, and the community.

The programme, run by the Central Java Provincial Regional Human Resources Development Agency (BPSDMD), relies on cross-sector collaboration to develop village potential.

“The hope is that these villages can move up a class, no longer be poor, and be able to compete with other villages,” he said.

For this reason, poverty alleviation cannot be achieved solely through economic assistance, but must also address improvements in the quality of human resources.

“Poverty alleviation is fundamentally based on basic services, namely education. I hope this creative breakthrough can reduce the number of the poorest villages in our area,” he said.

For context, Kepyar Village, which has a population of around 4,400 people, is one of the loci of the Central Java Provincial Government’s Assisted Village Programme.

Some local residents still depend on income from the agricultural sector and work as farm labourers.

In addition to economic strengthening, the programme targets issues of education, health, nutrition fulfilment, uninhabitable housing, and sanitation, as well as financial literacy and inclusion for the community.

Kepyar Village has around 596 hectares of agricultural land, eight farmer groups, 12 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and 15 micro traders that will be developed to expand the community’s sources of income.

The tourism potential in the village is also quite diverse, ranging from watermelon and melon agrotourism, river tubing, Sanginan Waterfall, to Watu Lumbung, which are expected to create new economic activity while strengthening residents’ businesses.

Through PBL, the agricultural sector will be strengthened, MSMEs will be mentored, and tourism potential will be supported to develop, so that poverty alleviation is not merely about meeting short-term needs, but also about increasing community capacity and business access.

“Of course, there needs to be collaboration between universities, the community, BUMD, and relevant agencies to get involved, so that the community becomes more empowered and does not fall back into poverty,” he said.

It is hoped that this mentoring approach will deliver tangible and sustainable results; if successfully implemented in Kepyar Village, it can be developed as a poverty alleviation model for other villages in Central Java.